Erased: A Red Butterfly
by ByteOfBacon
Summary: Satoru is sent back to 1988 once again, but this time saving Kayo isn't his only goal. (Rated T for safety)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Welp, I watched Erased, both the Netflix drama and the anime a while back, disappointed with the Hiromi and Kayo couple at the end, so here I am, more interested in the love relations between two 11-year olds than my own love life. The story takes place about 2-3 months after the final scene between Airi and Satoru, when he's a (Spoiler!) Manga artist. Enjoy the fanfic!**

 **Italics** _ **like this**_ **are Satoru's thoughts.**

Satoru shot up in a cold sweat. _Another dream about that, huh?_ He thought. He got out of bed and started to brew coffee. _Why do I keep having these dreams and thoughts? I should be happy for them. All three of them are so happy, so why do I feel this way?_ He paced his studio apartment, looking for an answer in his infinite sea of feelings.

The whirring of the coffee machine stopped, replaced with a beeping melody, interrupting his thoughts. He clasped the lid onto his cup and headed out towards his studio.

He barely could focus on his work as his argument with his inner self emerged again. His usually upbeat tone was replaced by a sad, depressing mood that caused everyone in the studio to worry about him, as one of his co-artists called him repeatedly. "Mr. Fujinima? Mr. Fujinima?" Satoru suddenly awakened from his state of thinking and responded "Yes, Maya?"

"We all saw you were looking a bit down. Are you okay? We can cover for you for a day if you need a break, Mr. Fujinima." Satoru gazed at his team for a second. They all wore concerned faces. "No, I'm fine Maya. Thanks for the concern." Satoru turned back to his work, returning to his thoughts.

Fifteen minutes later, Satoru stood up, and announced he'd be going to work on the storyboard for the volume he was drawing. He went outside, the cool air nipping at his skin lightly. Walking down to the familiar place under the overpass, he sat, still trying to interpret his own emotions.

It was a while later when Satoru had a realization. _I'm jealous. I'm jealous of Hiromi. I'm jealous because Kayo loves him, not me. And I hate myself for it._ As the day went through he kept wandering through his own mind. When he was walking home, he barely noticed a dark blue butterfly, fluttering by. It slowly turned red, and everything went negative.

 **Author's note: This will be coming out in pairs of chapters. If the second chapter isn't out by the time you read this, it's coming soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Italics** _ **like this**_ **mean that those are Satoru's thoughts.**

Satoru looked around. He was back in his room in his hometown. _What? Is this some sort of dream?_ Then it all rushed back to him, His two failed timelines. The image of his mother dead. Kayo frozen in the shed. Airi's house on fire. The traumatic images played on repeat in his mind. He sat up quickly, and processed his recovered memories. But then he questioned where the light blue butterfly that signaled a Revival was. _All I saw was a red butterfly…_ Then it hit him. He was 7 or 8. He was in a ice-skating race with a kid in his class. The other kid won, and he felt jealous of his for days, until he saw a red butterfly in his vision, then he was revived back to the race. He ended up winning the race the second time _. Did I revive because of… Was it that I revived because I was jealous of Hiromi?_ He sighed and trotted into the kitchen, where his mother was washing some veggies. "Mom? What are you doing up this early?" The young mother turned to face her son. "My son is leaving early, so he needs breakfast early." She placed a plate of food on table and motioned Satoru to eat it.

After breakfast, he left, holding a meal he wasn't going to save for himself.

He passed Izumi Elementary, and skipped to the bus where Kayo was waiting for him. _1 knock, 2 knocks, 3 knocks._ He slid the door open, remembering about someone coming in here. Probably Yashiro. Satoru parted the curtains. "Morning, Kayo!"

"Morning, Satoru." Kayo looked a bit scared.

"I brought breakfast for you. It's my mother's cooking."

Kayo was still disturbed from last night. She tried to keep her indifferent look, like she always had, but couldn't keep concern from showing up on her face.

"Kayo, are you okay? It's as if you saw someone in here last night…" _Did… did I say that last part out loud?_ Satoru mentally facepalmed.

"H-how did you… know?" Kayo said in disbelief.

 _Dammit, how am I supposed to cover this up? Think of something! You're 47!_

"I, uh saw footprints outside and your scared face…" Kayo blushed at his worry, and opened up the box of food he had given her. It was a lot of delicious food, so much so that Kayo and Satoru ended up sharing.

Satoru glanced at his watch. _Crap! It's 7:15 already!_ "Sorry Kayo, but I have to leave now. Goodbye!" He rushed out of the bus, and ran past the flowing lines of students coming into Izumi Elementary.

—***XXX***—

 **The following part is Kayo's POV. Italics are her thoughts.**

—***XXX***—

Kayo laid back on the bus seat she had as a bed. She started to think about Satoru. _He's done so much for me. He helped be to build the courage to stand up to my mother that one day he asked me out to the science center. He helped me escape my mother. How could I pay him back? He is such a good person, and handsome too.. I wonder what a hug with him would feel like? Or maybe a kiss?_ Kayo's face then grew bright red as she ended her fantasizing train of thought.

 **Author's Note: And that ends Kayo's fantasy, and this chapter. Leave feedback if you'd like. Also, I'm still deciding on a rating, so for now rated T just for safety.**


End file.
